Page 123 of The Overtime Persuasive

“She was furious.” Caleb picks up one end of the pastry case, testing its weight. “I learned a lot about how to be a husband that day. Like to let her know where I am.”

“To this day, if he’s going to be more than ten minutes late,” Priya continued, “I get a text with an explanation that includes an estimated arrival time.”

“Back then I considered making her a daily itinerary,” Caleb teases. “These days, I drop a pin.”

Priya rolls her eyes, but her fingers find his shoulder as he passes. “Eventually, I let it go. Mostly.”

“How long have you been married?”

“Eight years,” Caleb says immediately.

“Eight years,” Priya agrees. “And he still owes me another cake tasting.”

Caleb loads the pastry case onto a dolly, then Priya passes him boxes containing the smaller pieces. They move around each other without discussion, one reaching before the other has to ask, filling gaps with an ease created by years of shared history––freezers, missed cake tastings, and all.

I process their payment, emailing the receipt. Then I help Caleb wheel the grinder out to their van while Priya follows with the last box, still debating whether pale green is an appropriate color for a café wall.

They’re still arguing when they pull away.

I remain on the sidewalk after the van disappears, the breeze lifting the hem of my cardigan.

Their story doesn’t change anything. Liam still missed the taping, and I still sat alone in that cab, watching my phone remain dark while every stupid little hope I’d built around having him beside me collapsed.

But eight years later, Priya’s worst afternoon has become a story they tell together. It’s become a part of their story. Realizing that? Definitely changes… Everything.

Dad told me the question isn’t whether Liam will ever let me down again. He will. Of course, he will. Everyone does eventually, even the good ones.

The question is what he does after…and I already know that answer.

Liam didn’t show up at my apartment and demand that I forgive him. He left an apology box on my doorstep and drove away so I wouldn’t feel cornered into giving him something I wasn’t ready to offer. He recorded a video because he couldn’t find the right words when he was standing in front of me.

He didn’t pretend that missing the taping shouldn’t have hurt. He owned it.

And long before any of this, he built a home for a squirrel because I mentioned one in passing. He packed subscription boxes, with me, late into the night. He found reasons to walk through my door until neither of us believed those reasons anymore.

Liam shows up for me. It’s not perfect, and it may not be on time, but when he gets it wrong, he comes back without asking me to pretend it didn’t matter.

I’ve been treating ‘he might let me down again’ like a complete sentence. A reason to keep the door shut and stay inside the life I already know how to manage alone.

It was never supposed to be the whole sentence.

I step back inside, and my phone is still on the counter.

I’m in love with Liam Snyder.

The words haven’t become less terrifying, but they also don’t feel like a warning label anymore.

I pick up my phone before I can talk myself out of it, opening my messages. Lucy will be able to help me from here.

What time do I need to be at the Birdcage tonight?

CHAPTER 31

LIAM

The first person to congratulate me on becoming an alternate captain is a kid wearing my jersey and missing both front teeth.

“My mom says alternate captains have to be more responsible,” he says as I sign the team program he holds out to me.